Love Eternal
by Helen Nurse
Summary: When Sherlock was a young man, he had fallen in love. But when she went into a coma, he never forgot her.


"Marianne! Marianne!" Sherlock cried as he held her limp body close to his. They had been walking together when she suddenly fell. Sherlock had heard her skull crack as it hit the pavement.

She whispered in his ear "Don't forget to care, it is your greatest strength."

He called the ambulance, and when it arrived he came with her, holding her hand and begging her to stay with him "Marianne, stay with me. We need you to stay awake. Don't go to sleep, Marianne!" He repeated that over and over, all the way to St. Bart's.

When they arrived they put her in the ICU immediately, Sherlock paced outside in frustration that he couldn't help her.

After a few hours, the doctors came out to tell Sherlock "Mr. Holmes, your friend is in a coma." When the man saw how Sherlock's eyes began to fill with tears he said "We don't know when she will wake up, or if she will be the same after this. But she is stable now, and she has no other 's breathing on her own, so it is just a matter of her brain mending. We did the toxicology report you asked and found no harmful or foreign substances in her body."

"Is there anything I can do?" Sherlock said as his voice cracked with emotion.

"You can talk to her, it might bring her out of the coma sooner. If you read her the paper once a week and tell her what is happening around the world, she could possibly stay caught up on global events." the Doctor paused "I'm very sorry, but does she have any family?"

"No, Marianne was an orphan." he pulled out a small velvet box "I was going to propose to her today. Not even my brother knows about this." Sherlock brushed the tears away and went into her room. He closed the door behind him, and walked over to her bed.

He brushed away a strand of dark auburn hair, and tucked it behind her ear. He gently kissed her face before pulling over a chair to sit. "Hey." he smiled, trying to act normal. "The doctors said that you are going to be fine. All we have to do is wait for your funny little brain to repair itself." he chuckled as he wiped away tears from his eyes. "I was going to propose to you today. Yeah, me. The one and only Sherlock Holmes was going to propose to you." he sat quietly as he became lost in his thoughts.

He came back every week on Sunday to tell her the news of the week, play his violin for her, and to tell her what he was doing at the time.

Seven years passed, and Sherlock said when he was telling Marianne about his week "I met a man who is going to be my new flat-mate. His name's John Watson. I think you would have liked him."

After Sherlock knew John for a while, he introduced him to her. And as much as John was surprised by Sherlock's love of Marianne, it was nothing compared to the shock of being told that Marianne was Sherlock's only love. John smiled whenever Mrs. Hudson said that he and Sherlock were a couple, because he knew that Sherlock was irrevocably in love with another woman. After that day John would come with Sherlock on the Sundays to visit Marianne, just so he could see the human side of his best-friend and flat-mate.

When Sherlock 'died', John took over telling her the news of the week and to just talk with her.

John sat by her bed the first week, crying quietly. After a few more trips of silence, John took what courage he had left to tell her what happened "Marianne, I'm so sorry. Sherlock" he paused, his voice caught in his throat. "Sherlock took his own life when he jumped off the top of the hospital three weeks ago. He's gone." he cried as he placed his head on her bed beside her hand. As he cried, he failed to notice the single tear that fell from her cheek onto the pillow.

John came to Marianne's bedside every week on Sunday and did as Sherlock had done, but instead of playing the violin he'd play recordings of songs that Sherlock had created.

It was because of Marianne he stayed in 221B Baker Street, he'd a person to talk to that would listen to him. He knew that he was doing what Sherlock would have wanted, keep Marianne company and protect Mrs. Hudson.

At the end of the first year, he'd bought an Old English Bulldog to keep Mrs. Hudson company. He would bring Gladstone with him to see Marianne, and had him lay beside her on her bed. He'd place her hand on his back so she could feel his fur, hoping that the touch would help her come out of the coma. He would smile when Gladstone would try to lick her hand to see if she would wake up.

Two years rolled by and John never forgot to visit Marianne in the hospital with Gladstone. He'd tell her the weekly news, and after he played some of Sherlock's music for her, he'd read her part of a book. He'd read the book to her over the course of a few months, choosing classics that he would enjoy reading, hoping that she liked them too.

When Sherlock came back, he whispered in her ear "I'm not dead." He smiled as he told her about everything he'd done while he was away taking down Moriarty's Network, but he didn't notice the tear that fell from her eye when she heard his voice again.

As the years went by, Sherlock and John continued to solve crimes and visit Marianne together, one because of his love for her, the other because of his devotion to the other.

Five years passed, and John was going to be married to Mary Morstan, a friend of Sherlock's from his time spent dismantling Moriarty's Network.

Sherlock came in the Sunday before the wedding. "John's getting married next Saturday. Mary is a good person, I met her when I was dismantling Moriarty's Network. When I first saw her, I thought you had dyed your hair blond and came looking for me. She has so many similarities to you facially that it is possible you might be sisters." he paused, and held her hand in his. "I bought you a dress incase you come out of the coma in time for the wedding. It's a nice shade of violet that I think you would have loved to wear. It has ballet flats with it that match, along with a purse and all the other stuff you liked to wear." he smiled as he looked at her peaceful face. "I'll see you next Sunday, Marianne. I love you." he kissed her forehead as he always did before leaving.

When he let go of her hand, he felt a twitch, but dismissed it as his imagination.

But when he walked to the door, he did know that he did not imagine her whisper "I love you too, Sherlock." He turned around and saw her smiling at him, with her hazel eyes looking at him. "Hey."

"Hey." he smiled, then gasped as it finally clicked into place. "Oh, you are awake." he ran out of the room to the office of the doctor in charge of her care.

"Mr. Holmes! What is going on?"

"She's awake." he sprinted back to her room, a smile on his face that anyone could see was genuine. He stopped outside the door, and texted John:

'She woke up.

~SH'

He smiled when he saw the reply:

'Will be there soon.

Bringing Mary.

~JW'

When he entered the room, he saw her smiling at him, amused by his antics. "How long was I in a coma?" She asked, her voice quiet from no use.

"You have been in a coma for seventeen years. John is coming soon."

"Oh, I finally get to meet John while I'm not comatose?" she smiled, happy to see Sherlock. "What day is it?"

"June sixth, 2014"

"Wow. I'm now thirty six."

"And you don't look a day older than twenty." Sherlock smiled, happy to see her awake.

"Flatterer." she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

They laughed together for a while they waited for John to arrive.

When John ran into the room, he looked at her and said "Welcome back."

"It's nice to finally meet you, John." Marianne smiled.

"I'm happy to say the same. Hold on, I think Mary got lost on her way up here. I better go find her." he smiled as he looked at Sherlock and Marianne. "Don't go anywhere."

"Where would I go?" Marianne laughed.

When Mary walked into the room, Marianne gasped.

"Hi, Marianne." Mary smiled awkwardly as she sat next to Sherlock.

"But you died!" Marianne's eyes began to fill with tears.

"Nope. I got out before the building exploded. I had to protect you."

Sherlock frowned "I don't understand what's going on here."

"Sherlock, remember how I said I was an orphan? And that my older sister died when I was a child?"

"Oh." Sherlock looked at Mary "I did not expect that."

"Neither did I. Marianne, I hope you can get some mobility soon so you can come to our wedding." Mary smiled as she stood up. "I'll see you later, dear." she kissed John on the cheek before leaving.

John smiled "I'd better be off too." He hugged Marianne before turning to Sherlock. "You better tell her today while you still are brave."

Sherlock nodded as he grabbed the box that was still on her table.

"Tell me what?"

"Will you marry me?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, I was hoping that you'd ask me that when I fell." she smiled at Sherlock.

"Well, then. I guess I should tell my brother Mycroft then."

"No need, brother." Mycroft stood in the doorway.

"Hello, mister mystery companion."

"Hello, Marianne."

Sherlock looked at his brother, eyes narrowed "You stayed with her?"

"I visit twice a week if I can."

Marianne held Sherlock's hand in her own as she smiled at Mycroft. "Thank you. Sherlock and John didn't always keep me up to date on world events." she smiled at Sherlock "I think it was a good thing that you would come to talk to me."

"I would never leave you unless I had no choice." Sherlock bent down and kissed her gently on the lips, knowing that his forever would now have Marianne in it.


End file.
